Herakliskos Drakonopnigon

232, Lot: 134. Estimate $100. Sold for $195. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACE, Pautalia. Geta. As Caesar, AD 198-209. Æ (19mm, 4.29 g). Bare-headed and draped bust right, seen from behind / Infant Herakles kneeling right, strangling a serpent with each hand. Ruzicka -; Varbanov -. VF, green patina.

Herakles was the son of Zeus and Alkmene. This union and the child it produced enraged Zeus’ wife, Hera, who tried to kill Herakles. Shortly after his birth, she sent two serpents one night to strangle the infant as he lay sleeping in his crib. The following morning, the nurse discovered Herakles playing with their lifeless bodies: during the night he had strangled one in each hand. This early example of his renowned strength earned him the name Herakliskos Drakonopnigon, or “the serpent-slaying infant Herakles.”